Monster Vault: Fluff Galore!

One thing I really, really liked about the Monster Vault was that, in addition to the stat blocks and tactical descriptions, it came chock full of a whole lot of fluffy story-telling nuggets to help DMs craft something more interesting than the old "attacked by bandits on the road" bit.  


It also came chock full of names for NPCs.  I recognized a couple from The Keep on the Shadowfell, notably Kalarel, the main villain, and Salvana Wrafton, the innkeeper in Winterhaven.  But there were a whole lot more, too.  What's more is that they are generally "quoted" talking about this or that monster, which definitely helps bring the creatures to life.  


So without further ado, and to help everyone out with their game, here's a list of all the NPCs "quoted" in the Essentials Monster Vault.  


Andravar, angel of Vecna
Baredd, Champion of Argent
Lathras, Mage of Saruun
Kathra, wizard of Haven
Adrin of Tiri Kitor
Lord Soth
Kalaban, death knight of Nerath
Nimozaran, Septarch of Fallcrest
Rhogar, paladin of Bahamut
Valthrun the Prescient
Douven Staul
Aunn, doppleganger spy
Jothan Ironspell
Vadania, druid of the Harkenwood
Azarax, drider of Erelhei-Cinlu
Galados of Celduilon
Boldrik of Hammerfast
Obanar, guardian of Argent
Shemeshka the Marauder
Janic of the Harkenwood
Matron Urlvrain of Phaervorul
Gurgnash, ettin
Verinn, paladin of the Raven Queen
Noldir of Hammerfast
Moorin of Fallcrest
Kristryd, paladin of Moradin
Philaster of Hestavar
Egeira of Moonstair
Anastrianna of Mithrendain
Grukik, goblin cutthroat
Drellin the Mad
Archimandrius of Vor Rukoth
Korrigan, green hag of the Mistmarsh
Jarett Farwhere
Vyndra Sysvani of Mithrendain
Mari Valmidren, cleric of Ioun
Anders Partieren of Fallcrest
Salvana Wrafton of Winterhaven
Kelana Dhoram, mayor of Moonstair
Vadriar the Sage
Malaphar of the Golden Wyvern
Deric Widewanderer
Uldane of Winterhaven
Rothar of the Seven-Pillared Hall
Caiphas, paladin of Pelor
Oak Warden Sharasta
Zardkeran of Forgehome
Ashatra, rakshasa mage
Agroth of the Winterbole
Tennaris of Silver Spire
Kalarel, Scion of Orcus
Shara of Winterhaven
Rallaferanishad, treant of the Wild Grove
Kalistros of Maelbrathyr
Harbek of Hammerfast
Elior of Harkenwold
Terevan of Celduilon
Vastrana, yuan-ti malison
Farren Windhowler, ranger of the Harken Forest
Oakley, knight of Therund
Mardred of Hammerfast
Corrin Riverwander

A Pack of Gnoll Slavers

Well, the blog is called "A Pack of Gnolls", right?  Gnolls are some of my favorite monsters.  Just plain nasty buggers: demon-worshipping, humanoid-sacrificing, hyena-men.  Their god wasn't tough enough to handle Yeenoghu, so now they worship that evil bastard. So I'm gonna start coming up with some unique gnoll packs for use in adventures.  Because, really, using gnolls just as random bandits along a road or in another bland dungeon room is just boring and doesn't really explore the full potential of their cruel, malevolent, sadistic nature.  


Azrebe's Fangs


This band of a dozen gnolls is led by Azrebe, a cunning and power-hungry gnoll who is currently in Yeenoghu's favor, thanks to the hundreds of slaves and sacrifices he has brought to the Abyss.  Entire villages worth of people have disappeared, leaving ghost-towns behind.  The few who escaped the mass slaughter and kidnappings are driven mad by the atrocities they witnessed.  


Azrebe has a magical knife that has Yeenoghu's blessing upon it.  Once per day, as a standard action, Azrebe can use the knife to sacrifice an innocent (typically a child) upon an altar built to Yennoghu; this action causes a portal to Yeenoghu's Realm in the Abyss to open, at the Gathering Gate. This portal can remain open for up to two hours, as long as Azrebe maintains it.  


Azrebe's primary lieutenant is a twisted, mad gnoll called Skar.  


The Fangs have been roving across the land now for months, never staying in one place for very long, unless they find a place that is soft and ripe for the taking.  Azrebe's primary concern is presenting as many slaves as possible to Yeenoghu, in hopes of receiving some kind of twisted, abyssal boon.  The Fangs will typically attack a secluded farm or homestead late at night, make a sacrifice to open the portal to the abyss, and then fan out in groups of two or three to find more victims to herd to the portal.  Once the portal is open, Azrebe must maintain it, so Skar takes the lead on finding more victims.  On the other side of the portal are gnolls ready to take the victims and torture them into submission.  Or sacrifice them.  Or eat them.  Or all of the above.  


From the Monster Vault: 
Azrebe is a Fang of Yeenoghu (p 145)
Skar is a Gnoll Blood Caller (p 144)
The other ten are Deathpledged Gnolls (p 144)


That's a Skirmisher, a Soldier, and 8 Brutes, so make sure to introduce some good terrain elements or something to keep combat interesting.  

Review: Essentials Monster Vault

Holy cow there’s a lot here!  For $29.95 plus tax, you get all these tokens:

You also get the Monster Vault book, which clocks in at 318 pages and has an excellent balance between fluff and crunch.  There are plenty of ideas for how to use the different monsters in your adventures, and there is plenty of variety in powers, even among all the different orcs, gnolls, medusa, demons and devils, etc. The book is definitely heaviest on the Heroic end of campaigns, with well over a hundred individual monsters between levels 1 and 10, and then something in the range of 80 or so Paragon level threats, and only a handful of Epic level creatures.  I was happy to see they didn’t bother to include any of the gods

The adventure is decent, pretty much standard fare for WotC.  It’s a lot better than Keep on the Shadowfell, while still expanding upon the history of the Nentir Vale and surrounding areas.  It is easily adaptable to any homebrew campaign. 

There is a double-sided battlemap.  One side is a wintery village, and the other is part of the dungeon featured in the adventure.  The rest of the dungeon is easily assembled with basic Dungeon Tiles; they conveniently put the most complex part of the Dungeon on the included map.  Unfortunately, in play, you have to cover most of it once you place it down, lest the players gain too much metagame knowledge, as it comprises some 8 rooms, including the throne room where the boss is waiting. 

The tokens themselves are great.  One side is regular and the other is bloodied.  They are heavy enough to be easy to pick up and move around.  There are an awful lot of them, and I highly recommend finding a good way to keep them organized before popping them all out of the cardstock.  And don’t expect to be able to quickly find certain tokens in the middle of a game session, either.  They definitely require a DM to be prepared, tokens and all, ahead of time. 

This product is highly recommended, especially if you are a fledgling DM and don’t have minis to use in your game (especially now, since WotC is discontinuing official D&D Minis, but that’s a whole different post). The book itself is well worth the price, the tokens look great, and the map looks great.  I got this as a Christmas present from my in-laws, and of all the Essentials books, I have definitely spent the most time with the Monster Vault.